Liar's dice
by Ierpier
Summary: Robin makes a deal for his life and as a result finds himself as a spy for king George in Leopold's castle. Caught between one king's wrath and the other's madness, the game is dangerous enough as it is, yet a young queen with mourning in her eyes raises the stakes even more.
1. Chapter 1

**Liar's dice**

 _Liar's dice_ _is game for two or more players_

 _requiring the ability to deceive and detect an opponent's deception_

The cell is damp and smells like a sickening combination of moss, blood, piss and any other body fluids imaginable. Water runs down the stone walls, half of it getting greedily drunk by the coloured mosses on the wall, the other half dripping on the floor in a continuous _drip, drip, drip._ He counts the time between the fall of two droplets, times the futile punching of his fist against the wall in time with it. It's useless, will never get him out these damp, dark cells, but it fits for punishing himself.

He's in Nottingham. The small town right on the border between king Leopold's and king George's kingdom. If he listens carefully he can hear the sheriff still proudly proclaiming his capture of 'the legendary Robin Hood'. To be caught by such a man as the sheriff of Nottingham is, on its own, already a good enough reason to punish oneself. Frustratingly, however, it is by a flaw of his own character that he, famed outlaw Robin Hood, finds himself in this cell that is hardly worthy of a two-penny thief.

Because he'd gotten cocky, gotten impatient. He'd had a good gig, ambushing carriages from George's kingdom as they passed into Leopold's. As long as he waited for the carriages to pass into Leopold's kingdom, it put him outside the reach of George's knights and robbing George's carriages instead of Leopold's put him outside reach of Leopold's wrath. There had been investigations at first, but George had made the crucial mistake of accusing 'Robin Hood', the stuff of legends, as the culprit. Trust and cooperation between the kings had waned since with both sides throwing accusations across the border.

Yet he'd gotten impatient, and it had all ended. He hadn't had enough patience to wait for the carriage –it had broken an axis before and had left Robin waiting perched in a tree for hours on end. He had been cocky, fashioned himself indeed the stuff of legends and had ambushed George's carriage while still on George's soil. Little did he know that the old king's men had been waiting for him to do for months, luring him out with delayed carriages and stalling at the border. It was therefore that he found himself caught, bound and thrown in a cell in George's kingdom, awaiting what would undoubtedly be horrid punishment for his actions.

"There is our legend." The howling of the sheriff of Nottingham as he throws open the door shakes Robin from his memories of regret. He has to squint his eyes closed against the sudden light emanating from the door and only notes the other figure when he's already seated in front of him at the other side of the bars. His voice is calmer, deeper, older and more terrifying than the incessant jeering by the sheriff.

"You have been quite a nuisance for the last years, Robin Hood." Speaks the man. The man then turns towards him, sunlight casting a glimmer on his balding head and deepening the creases carved in his face. "Do you know who I am, outlaw?" He asks on a calm tone and Robin can do nothing but stare into the man's menacing yet cool eyes. Of course he does, he may be an outlaw, but he was still raised as a noble. (the house of Locksley had never been rich and had fallen into disarray when he'd been young, but he'd still learned enough to know the name and appearance of their king.)  
"I do. You're His Majesty George the third, by grace of the gods, of Thedas and the Mist Isles." Robin rattles the words from where his mother had practically crammed them into his mind.  
"Information is a little outdated." The king answers gruffly. "But it does seem I do not need to introduce myself."  
"Your legend proceeds you." Robin answers and if he sounds a little cocky, well, he won't ever get the chance to mock the king again and he does not count on any count of mercy anyway. "As does my own, apparently, since you are here to speak to me yourself- in person. – _Your majesty."_

The king seemingly does not deign his reaction worth a reply, simply stands up and gestures towards the sheriff, who moves quickly to open his cell. "You have committed many crimes and cost me more gold than I can count, However…" The king turns towards him. "You steal my gold on Leopold's soil, yet distribute it only amongst my people. That tells me you are loyal to your own country, in your own way. You are committed to your own people, my people, not Leopold's."  
Robin eyes the king watchfully, while keeping one eye on the door that is still open. The king seems not intent on running a sword through him, but the death sentence is hanging above his head and the sheriff will certainly not hesitate pre-emptively carry out the sentence.

"In addition to that, you have also managed to inspire quite a following amongst the common folk. Killing you will make you a martyr, and I do not wish to incite a civil war with Leopold's army marching upon my borders."  
"That sounds like your problem to me, your majesty." Robin answers shortly, unwilling to speak politics or make deals with those he so despises. "Now, I do not know what you are getting at, but make your point."

The king eyes him with a stern gaze for a few seconds. "Very well." He finally answers. "As much as I do not wish to incite a civil war, I will kill you and then cut down all who oppose me in your name, as I'm certain they will. I am, however, prepared to spare your life and, as a result, that of your followers. Now you are a nationalist, you love your country in your own way, so I am asking you to serve it, for once."  
For all the ways in which Robin has despised the king and all those belonging to him in the last years. He cannot deny the truth in the kings words, suspicious as he remains of the man. It is therefore that he responds with a wary: "What could I possibly do to serve the realm?"

The king smiles, a small smile that does not reach his eyes, but bares his teeth before him as if he were a predator. "Glad you asked. Now I trust you know some of the tensions between my kingdom and Leopold's, after all, you have been profiting off it for years. That old fool Leopold is as unpredictable as he is undependable and I do not trust him to be intent on keeping the peace, fragile as it already is. I need to know what he is planning, I need a man on the inside." He makes a gesture towards the open door. "You are free to leave this cell, but when you do, you will go with the next envoy towards Leopold. The man is growing more paranoid by the day and is desperate to hire new guards. Your face is unfamiliar to him, but I'm certain he will recognize your skills immediately. I want you to infiltrate his castle posing as a guard, find out what he's planning and report back to me regularly. Do this and you and your followers will escape with their lives. Refuse my offer and you will die."

A silence falls between them, Robin's thoughts flying from his youth and his hatred for all that is noble and royal to the common folk who love him, to the merry men who he loves. Who took him in as a scrawny boy of fourteen and looked after him for the following ten years until he found himself here, in his damp cell.  
"Do you accept my offer?" The king asks.  
He swore never to serve the system that cost him his childhood, swore to oppose the monarchy until his death. Yet it is the common folk, the merry men who will pay the price of his rebellion. They're not responsible of his fate, do not deserve to pay the price for it. It is with these thoughts that he answers the king with a slow nod and trembling breath, resigning himself to play this wicked game of liar's dice.

"I accept."


	2. Chapter 2

An odd atmosphere rests inside king Leopold's castle walls. There's an excitement amongst the early nobles who have already arrived for the wedding, but also a gossip in every corner about king Leopold's child bride. Servants are running around and about the castle, decorating every cranny of the high ceiled hallways and imposing rooms in preparation of the wedding and the guests it will bring with it. The castle feels both crowded and empty, pregnant with a crowd that is not yet filling it.

It's partially because of the wedding that getting hired as a castle guard had been so easy. The wedding would bring with it many visitors and as Leopold grew more paranoid, so grew his desire for swords and watchful eyes in his hallways. Robin muses on the irony that possibly the one time the king's paranoia would have saved him, he had decided to trust instead. Then again, the king is not the most sane man, caring for his daughter more than anything. The man is on the doorstep of madness, being held back by his daughter and his step blinded by his own misguided ideas of kindness. Robin pities the woman who is to be his queen.

"Robin."  
He shakes his head from his thoughts about kings and queens. He's a spy and whatever opinions he has on his king are not as relevant as the information he can gather on him.  
"Oi! Robin!"  
Robin turns towards the voice who had been calling towards him and gives a small nod in acknowledgement towards one of his fellow guards: Claude. With twenty-one years of age, Claude is only slightly younger than him, but just as fine a fighter.  
"Waiting for one of the noble wenches to cast her eye on you? I wouldn't count on it, we're part of the décor as far as they are concerned." Claude grins, but in his grey eyes some deep-buried feelings of hatred shine.  
"Well, with a face such as yours, you might want to count yourself lucky to be considered part of the décor, my friend." Robin quips to the man already balding at his young age, earning him a roaring laughter and a slap on the shoulder from his fellow guard.  
"You remind me of my brother, the cunt." He chuckles, then lowers his voice. "Speaking of, I'm here to fetch you. The new queen is to arrive today and we are to stand guard."  
"You'd better not let the king hear you speak that way of his new bride." Robin answers and Claude scoffs.  
"Nobles, all the same shit."  
Though Robin shares his friend's disdain for nobles and all those connected to it, he can't help but privately chuckle to himself at the thought of Claude ever finding out his friend was born to a noble house in king George's kingdom. He shakes his head and gives Claude an amused smile before walking towards the great hall. "Let's just go, before the _nobles_ actually start to notice us. Or our absence, for that matter."

* * *

Everything is all pomp and circumstance with nobles. They can't walk through an open door without formerly being announced and preceded by a dozen guards in shining arms and colours. It's only one of the things Robin thoroughly despises about them. It is also as such with the new queen's arrival. He and the other new guards are lined up around the halls, instructed not to move, not to hear and not to see. (Of course he sees, he hears, he spies).

The parade inside the halls is being preceded by the king's loyal guards, the ones who have been the king's guards for years and whom he trusts to be close to him. The king keeps the new guards at a safe distance, which makes it easier for Robin to remain unseen, but also makes gathering information harder. Today, however, his lowly position gives him the better vantage point. He scans the room, his eyes resting a little too long on the shining baubles that the noble ladies following the guards are wearing. One of the baubles could feed his village for half a year, he's sure. He shakes himself from his thieving thoughts and reminds himself that if he gets caught as a spy, the village will never eat again.

"Introducing to you now…" The booming voice of the royal announcer's voice roars through the hall, silencing any excited murmuring that had been going on. "His majesty king Leopold of the Enchanted Forest and the white kingdoms. With him, Snow White, daughter of king Leopold and Queen Eva, princess of the Enchanted forest and the white kingdoms."  
The young princess wears her title as well as she wears her tiara. Walking into the room beside her father, a golden crown resting upon the latter's balding head. The king is wearing his mask of kindness, smiling towards the people cheering at him and his daughter. Then behind him, being guided inside the palace by the hands of a mean-looking woman, is the queen.

Robin vaguely registers the announcer introducing her and listing her titles, but the words do not reach his ears, for all his mind feels occupied with what his eyes are seeing. Because she is _beautiful._ She is younger than he had expected, no older than eighteen for sure, with doe-brown eyes, dark hair and skin a shade more tinted than the pale white of most noble ladies. She carries herself with the air of nobility, but there is none of the disdain in her eyes, none of the superiority in her stance. He finds himself staring at her as she takes the long walk towards the centre of the hall, where the king stands waiting for her. He notices the woman next to her giving the woman a prod and suddenly she turns her head and waves at the nobles around her. When her gaze meets his, he feels his breath catch for a second. In awe, but also in sadness.

Because the girl –for that is what she is, really- is smiling, but there is mourning in her eyes. A sadness hidden beneath the mask she wears. It knocks the breath right out of his lungs. He swallows thickly as he watches her walk towards the king, watches the man kiss her hand and suddenly he's filled with something more than just disdain for the king.

Suddenly he wants to kill the king. Murder him to protect this girl with mourning in her eyes he does not even know.

* * *

The wedding is equally awful. It's held the day after the new queen's arrival and it fills up the whole castle, every nook and cranny stuffed with the royal wedding. With every noble family attending and seemingly bringing all those even remotely related to them, the normally quiet castle is crawling with nobles. Robin has had to keep back the urge to pickpocket many a nobleman ever since he'd crossed path with the first of them. Now, as he watches the young queen –he curses himself for not catching her name when it was announced- take the long walk to where her marriage to the king awaits, it's not the urge to steal he holds back.

He watches with clenched fists as the king takes her small, gentle hands in his and gives the queen a smile, before he presses a kiss to her hand. Robin watches a few ladies in the audience swoon, but spots even more of them look vaguely disturbed at the display. Then it is a blur of rituals that he is not familiar with and does not care for. (it occurs to him that he could have been part of such a ritual himself, if his fate had been different.)

He watches with an empty stare, managing to keep his mind blank until the pair is pronounced husband and wife and the king presses a kiss against the lips of his new bride. He grits his teeth as he watches the girl desperately trying not to flinch away. He knows the image of the young queen getting kissed by the man old enough to be her grandfather, will haunt him for days to come.

(He is right, but he could never have imagined he would soon see how it haunted her, too)

* * *

 **Please tell me if you're enjoying this story. It helps to motivate me to write. I hope you liked this chapter, I promise interaction the next one. Stay tuned!**


	3. Chapter 3

It's been ten days since the wedding and the castle has returned to a state of relative peace. If Robin had not known about the new queen residing in the castle, he would hardly know she was there. He has seen her pass through the halls only a handful of times, always accompanied by either the king or the king's guardsmen. Robin cannot help eying her curiously whenever she walks by, observing the way she always seems to have a slightly skittish look in her beautiful brown eyes. He and his fellow ordinary guards have received strict instructions not to bother the queen in any way, but it has not stopped him from lingering a little whenever she walks by. He tells himself it's his duty as a spy – though sometimes he forgets his real task here- to know everything that happens inside the castle. Surely king George would want to know details on Leopold's new queen?

It is not that, however, that makes him halt is step when he walks the now familiar lines of his patrol past her bedroom. For all his curiosity, he has never once stopped here, understanding that the queen deserves what little privacy she can get.

Tonight, however, he does stop. Because there's something behind her door: a soft whimpering that he would not have caught, had it not been for him having his ears peaked for any sound. (It's a reflex he's picked up from being on the run for many years.)

He halts his step, silently and slowly moving towards her door. Before taking up the much easier job of robbing carriages, he'd been in the business of breaking into houses, so he opens her door without making a sound. The sight he's faced with when he peeks his head through the opening, breaks his heart a little.

She's lying in the bed that seems infinitely too big for her, seemingly drowning in the sheets she's both pulling towards her and kicking away. And she's whimpering, tossing and turning as she lets out those silent sobs and cries into the emptiness of her bedroom. Robin heart aches for the new queen and he quickly moves towards her bed to wake her from what is undoubtedly a horrible nightmare. A few steps into the room he halts, however, remembering the king's words. If the king were to find out he were in the queen's room, the consequences would be unforeseeable.

"Please, mother." She whimpers and Robin turns towards her so quickly it almost makes him lose his balance. "I do not want-" Her words morph into a soft scream as she turns and begins murmuring words that vaguely sound like 'I'm sorry'.

And that's that. While shaking his head at himself, he takes the final steps towards her bed and slowly puts one hand on her shoulder.

"No!" She shrieks and he jumps at her sudden cry, but persists, putting his other hand on her shoulder and slowly shaking her.  
"Milady?" He asks softly. She does not wake, writing more as his touch is obviously upsetting her. He swallows thickly and shakes her more roughly, which makes her whimper and kick more. "Your majesty!" He asks, louder and he hopes that there is not a guard walking past now, because he will definitely be heard. "Your Ma- Regina!"

That does it. The queen's beautiful, fearful eyes fly open and for a second stare into his eyes. Then she shrieks and crawls back onto the bed, hitting her head against the headboard before sitting up against his. "Who are- what are you doing here?" Her voice is shaking as she stumbles over her words. "If you touch me again I will-"  
Robin backs away from the bed, lifting his hands as if he were surrendering. "Milady, I do not mean you harm. It's just… you were having a nightmare and…"  
"Why are you in my room?" Her voice is still shaking and he sees her eyes taking in his uniform. It does not seem to tamper her fears in any way. "Are you coming to fetch me?"  
Robin frowns. "Fetch you? No. As I said, you were having a nightmare and I…"  
"Decided to enter my room?" She does not sound angry, not even really fearful anymore. Mostly it's a tone of disbelief in her voice, an innocence and naivety in her voice that reminds him of how young this queen is. (Only five years younger than him, but he's grown up fast and it's easy to forget). He gives her a sad smile.  
"From what I gather, it is my job to protect you from your enemies, even the ones that may only be there inside your head." He explains, not entirely sure how much trouble he has gotten himself into. She does not seem inclined to call the guards, but it also still backed up against the headboard, eying him in mistrust. "Did I upset you, milady?"

"It's your majesty." She answers softly, shaking her head at herself. Then she's pushing herself up on the bed. "I'm your queen." She whispers as if she's reminding herself of it. She lifts her head and her eyes meet his again, her eyes somehow a little harder, darker. "You need to leave." She orders him, her voice shaky but her gaze determined, trained.  
"Did I upset you? Milady." He asks again, stepping towards her bed. It's a mistake and something in her eyes flares as she pushes herself into a standing position.  
"Leave." Her voice is sharp now, her eyes suddenly hardened in a way he had not expected those soft brown eyes to be able to change. "If you do not, the king will hear of this and he will not be pleased." It's a threat, but her voice is shaking as she utters it, tears still brimming beneath the surface of those cuttings eyes. He sees the sadness still, but there is a profound anger in his eyes that he has not seen there before. It scares him, saddens him.

So with a nod and a soft apology he leaves. When he softly closes the door behind him, he can't help lingering a little longer on her doorstep. It's only minutes before he can hear her sobbing again and his heart cracks a little. Again.

* * *

It's true that he does not care much for the impending war between George and Leopold. Robin is therefore not terribly concerned his mission of spying on Leopold. He does, however, depend on king George's good graces for his life and the lives of those he cares about and therefore does have to so some actual spying. King Leopold, however, lives up to his paranoid reputation and rarely allows anyone but his daughter close to him. The guards that do get close enough to the king and the possible information he could bring with him, are the guards that have proven themselves tenfold over to the king. Not the guards sleeping in the barracks with him and certainly not Robin himself.

He ponders breaking into the king's bedroom or the war room in the centre of the castle. He knows, however, of the guards posted there at all times to keep people like him out. Besides, if breaking into the castle were an option, king George wouldn't have gone through the trouble of making him go undercover in the first place. No, Robin needs to earn the king's trust.

With that in mind, Robin puts his pen to paper.

* * *

Getting out of the castle is like a breath of fresh air after his stay in the castle. He is accompanying the king and his young queen on a trip towards the town. Robin has managed to convince the king that he –as an archer- has an eye like no other for assassins hired to take them out. Paranoid as the king is for such things, he had quickly latched onto his help and had allowed Robin to accompany him.

He watches Regina as she walks in front of him. It's been over a week since the incident in her room and she has not paid any attention to him since. She walks with her head up high, but still flinches away from the king every time his hand seems to stray in her direction. Robin knows he should be watching the villagers for anyone attempting to take out the good king, but would probably not even try to stop it.

"King Leopold, that is one beautiful lady you have there." A voice booms from the sky, drawing Robin's gaze away from the young queen. He reaches for his bow, his fingers touching the wood a comforting, familiar feeling.  
"Men. Find him." It's the only thing the king says, and even though his voice is soft, Robin hears the anger, the jealously in his voice. The king's hands reaches out towards Regina's and grip them tightly, pulling her towards him.

The guards rush off towards the where the voice is coming from, but Robin knows before they even set off that they will go the wrong way. It's the oldest robbery trick in the book, one he –as a thief- knows well. He turns his back towards where the voice sounded from and, surely, from the crowd emerges a hooded figure, running towards the king. Robin carefully awaits him and then gives the man a kick in the leg, watching the hooded figure falling down into the sand. He grips the man his tunic and turns to face him.

"How can you serve such a cruel king?!" The man spits at him and Robin snarls at him.  
"You should think before you speak, you fool. Of all the kings I've seen, Leopold is the kindest one. If you think that taking Leopold's life will make things better, you are sorely mistaken." He brings the man's face up to his, raising his voice for all to hear. "And I do not simply serve my king, I would die for my king and queen. So if you or any of those who belong to you, _ever_ , presume to be able to kill Leopold again, I recommend you reconsider. Now scurry off, tell your friends." Robin barks at him, before letting the man go. The man immediately lifts his hands in the sky and nearly trips over his own feet running away.

"Why did you let him go?" Robin turns to face the king at his question and bows before him.  
"Your majesty, capturing him would only have bolstered the confidence of those who would try the same. This way he lives to tell his friends not to do so."  
The king eyes him sharply. "You should not have presumed that I would have let him go." He king declares. Then he shakes his head. "You were, however, the only one of my guards who was standing between me and that assassin. You have proven yourself to be a capable and loyal soldier. I wish to reward you for that."  
Robin bows his head. "The only reward I wish is serving you, my king. A place on your kings guard would be the greatest honour I could ask for."  
"I already have an adequate kings guard." The king answers. "I do, however, have another position of great honour for you." He turns towards Regina and smiles. "I want you to guard my wife, the queen."

Robin smiles, bows and makes a mental note to send a thank you note to Will Scarlett.


End file.
